CHILDREN from Okehampton Primary School have made a splendid collection for charity, after rummaging around their homes looking for copper coins.

A spokesperson for the school said after discussing the plight of the survivors of the Haiti earthquake, the children wanted to raise some money to help.

The spokesperson said: 'It seemed so unfair that children who already had very little should have such a tragedy to deal with as well. The children wanted to tip the balance by having the challenge of which class could collect the greatest weight of coins.

'The children had a dig around the backs of sofas and chairs and any spare coins they found were brought into school.'

The whole school took part in collecting coins, which were then weighed and counted.

Key Stage 2 children weighed and counted the coins collected, class by class, and they soon discovered that the heaviest in weight did not equal the most money collected.

A table of the amounts collected by each class was created to demonstrate the children's discovery.

In total the school collected coins weighing 65kg 775g the total value of which came to £326.

The money will be donated to the ShelterBox charity.

Each ShelterBox contains such items as a ten-man tent, thermal blankets, water purification system, stove, kitchen equipment, cooking utensils and crockery as well as a children's pack with drawing books, crayons and pens. The box too has also proved useful for food storage or even a cot for a newborn baby.

'All items will be much appreciated by the people in Haiti and help them as they try to get on with their lives following such a disaster,' said the spokesperson.